Some consumers desire a personal care composition in a foam form. Given the low density of the foam, a high concentration of surfactant may be required to deliver enough surfactant to deliver proper cleaning and lather during use. However, concentrated liquid cleaning compositions, which can contain a relatively high level of surfactant, often exhibit increased viscosity, which makes it prohibitive to deliver with a mechanical foam dispenser, like a pump foam dispenser.
Furthermore, personal care compositions, such as shampoos, typically employ sulfate-based surfactant systems because of their effectiveness in generating high lather volume and good lather stability and cleaning. However, some consumers believe that sulfate-based surfactants, like sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, can be less gentle to the hair and skin, especially colored hair, as compared to compositions that are substantially free of sulfate-based surfactant systems.
Therefore, some consumers may prefer a personal care composition that is substantially free of sulfate-based surfactant systems. However, it can be difficult to formulate these compositions in traditional liquid personal care compositions, including shampoos, because it is difficult to formulate a composition that has acceptable lather volume, lather stability, clarity, and cleansing. Based on this, the use of sulfate-free surfactants in personal care compositions typically results in compositions with more surfactant to achieve similar effectiveness as the sulfate-based surfactants.
The problems with formulating with sulfate-free surfactants can be exacerbated when formulating a compact formula that can be delivered with a typical pump foam dispenser. The high surfactant levels can lead to higher viscosity compositions that cannot be delivered through a typical pump foam dispenser and if the composition is modified to lower the viscosity, it may not have enough lather to clean properly.
Therefore, there is a need for a personal care composition that is substantially free of sulfate-based surfactants with low liquid phase viscosity and that exhibits sufficient lather and acceptable foam quality.